My family will be traveling to Portugal in April. Our flight to Porto includes a layover in Madrid and a short flight on the Fokker 100 via TAP airlines to Porto. My concern is that we were planning to carry on our rollaboards. They are TravelPro 21" Rollaboard that meet most domestic airline overhead baggage requirements (edited), in the past, had issues with them on domestic regional flights (Canadair aircraft to be exact), and we had to gate-check due to small overhead bins. I'm curious if anyone has flown a Fokker 100 and if so do you recall the overhead bin size? I've done some research and tried to find information, but I'm not finding anything totally conclusive, I imagine it has to do with the newer aircraft vs older versions. I suspect we'll be on an older version. Second part to this question is have you been able to gate-check bags successfully in Madrid or do you have any other advice or recommendations for us. I've never had a layover in Europe traveling on a large aircraft and switching to a smaller plane. I was thinking we could carry on for the long leg of the flight to Madrid then after going through immigration perhaps we could then check the bags through to Portugal? Is that even an option? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
It's similar to flying in the US and transferring from a large to a small aircraft. If the bag fits in the overhead of the Fokker 100, you carry it on. If it won't, then you will be asked to gate check it (usually at no charge if it's on TAP). You then get your bags right when you land. No need to plan in advance - the flight staff will tell you what you need to do.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32352 posts
amy,
The Fokker 100 is a medium sized jet aircraft, so should be able to accommodate your rollaboards if they fit carry-on size. Aircraft cabin configurations vary slightly between different airlines, but THIS provides one example of what you might encounter.
I assuming your reference to Canadair aircraft refer to the DH-3 models. Those do have small overhead bins, so I usually end up putting my carry-on under the seat. On many regional flights that board from the tarmac, there's also usually an option to put bags on the Skycheck cart just before you board the aircraft, so it's not a huge problem.
Posted by
OP
New York City
7 posts
Thank you both for the helpful replies. I was beginning to question my thoughts on carrying on for this trip. I've never had a layover in Europe so this information is very helpful.
Posted by
OP
New York City
7 posts
Frank, yes excellent point and so very accurate. I'm a frequent business travler so I guess a better term would be the recommended bag size for most overhead storage bins on north american flights haha. However, even with that it can be an issue. On a business flight last week I reviewed the overhead storage area of the plane I was connecting to (regional jet) and it seemed my bag would be fine. Only to have it gate checked after all. I think anymore there are very few guarantees unless you're on your regular carrier, and board early. My point was that I'm carrying on a small-ish bag that meets the recommendations of the TSA and Rick Steves' and will be fine for my United 767 flight, but honestly I'm sure it will need gate check in Madrid.
Posted by
OP
New York City
7 posts
And Frank, thanks so much for your valuable insight. Much appreciated. Sorry if I offended you somehow. I clearly mistyped. I checked the requirements of each airline and try to carry on a bag that suits their printed website requirements, occasionally that doesn't matter due to change of aircraft, overcrowded flight etc.. :) Have an absolutely fantastic day and happy traveling. So as not to confuse the general population with my clearly misleading post I will go ahead and edit for clarity.